


Dare To Defy

by averita



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anti CW-verse, Crack, F/F, Fix-It, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 02:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14298912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/averita/pseuds/averita
Summary: “I doubled my offer,” Cat continues, jiggling her knee impatiently, “but Pedowitz won’t budge and I’m told that I can’t justbuyWarner Brothers because I don’t like one of their shows.” She purses her lips as though not convinced by that logic. “But this - they’re using me to promote this garbage, and I won’t stand for it, Kara, Iwon’t.”Or, Cat has feelings about a certain television show.





	Dare To Defy

**Author's Note:**

> There I was, happily watching Black Lightning, when a promo for the return of Supergirl came on featuring a voiceover by Cat Grant (her speech about what makes women strong from the season two finale) to promote the twisted version of the show that she used to be on. That, combined with some news about what will be happening in the next few episodes, had me raging in a way I thought I was past. Welp. This was the result. Fair warning, I haven't seen the show in about a year, and if you love the direction the show has gone in since it moved to the CW, this is not the fic for you.

“Is this what it felt like when Lillian Luthor used you in her little propaganda videos?” Cat demands, not bothering with something as mundane as a greeting as she shoves her way past Kara into the dimly-lit apartment. “If so, it’s no wonder you went after Cadmus the way you did.”

“They also had my foster dad,” Kara reminds her, closing the door and turning to face Cat. She’s flushed, hands on her hips and hair mussed like she’s been running her fingers through it, and while Kara is wary of the rage burning in her eyes like her own heat vision, she can’t help admire the figure she strikes. The figure she’s striking _in Kara’s apartment_ , which she really should come back to. “Um, what are you doing here?” 

“My lawyers are useless,” Cat complains, fingers twitching like she wants to reach for a drink, and Kara - attuned as ever - grabs a bottle of wine from the top of the fridge, nodding towards the couch as she pours two glasses. Cat stalks to the couch but doesn’t sit, continuing to pace back and forth even as Kara hands her the drink and sits herself, watching bemusedly. “They say because I said it on that damn talk show the network has the rights - I’m suing anyway, of course, it’s the principle - and you!” She turns on her heel, thrusting a finger towards Kara, who shrinks back, superpowers be damned. “If you had just given me that trademark, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Kara’s frown deepens. “Let’s start over,” she suggests, grabbing Cat’s hand where it hovers in front of her and gently tugging her down. “Is this about Cadmus? Because we beat them. Like, really, _really_ beat them.” 

That’s an understatement. After learning that Jeremiah was alive, and Lillian had declared open war on Supergirl with her anti-alien attacks in the press, political arena, and literal soldiers hunting down aliens and enhanced humans, Kara and Alex had dedicated themselves to exposing and taking down Cadmus with a single-minded focus that paid off in spades. 

It had been difficult, juggling her new career with Supergirl duties and such an important mission. She’d been lucky to have no major distractions elsewhere in her life, and between J’onn, Lucy, and Vasquez backing them up at the DEO and her friends providing constant support, keeping her balanced when she felt overwhelmed - not to mention Alex, always, always Alex - she’d come out the other side of it with her career and sanity intact, Cadmus wiped clean, and her family whole for the first time in over a decade. (Whole and _growing_ , if the way Alex looks at Maggie is any indication, and whatever reservations Kara might have had about sharing her sister had withered and died around the time she first saw that look reciprocated.)

But now, months later, the dust has settled. Lillian Luthor, Sam Lane, and their cohorts are rotting in jail; Jeremiah is recovering, safe and reunited with Eliza; Kara and Alex have found a healthy new normal, more balanced and settled than either have been in years. And Cat - Cat is back where she belongs with a new foundation under her belt, her mark on several bits of legislation making their way towards the President, and seemingly rejuvenated and thriving back atop her throne.

She doesn’t look it now, though, swallowing half the wine in her glass in one long sip and wiping her mouth indelicately. “No, it’s not Cadmus,” she says bitterly. “They’re easier to fight. It’s that _show_.”

Kara winces. _Oh._

The television show, loosely inspired by Supergirl but unrecognizable in most other ways, had amused Kara at first but infuriated Cat from concept to completion. Initially it had seemed like it had potential - Kara enthusiastically watched the first couple of episodes, eager to see how they portrayed her fictional alter-ego - but it had quickly become apparent that, despite being marketed around empowering young women, it was taking cues from most of the other shows on this particular network and letting down the audience it purported to serve.

Kara had quit watching, Alex had amused herself with creating a drinking game, but Cat - Cat seemed personally offended on a level that Kara found quite touching, if a little tiring. 

This was the first time it had brought her to Kara’s _house_ , though. 

“I doubled my offer,” Cat continues, jiggling her knee impatiently, “but Pedowitz won’t budge and I’m told that I can’t just _buy_ Warner Brothers because I don’t like one of their shows.” She purses her lips as though not convinced by that logic. “But this - they’re using me to promote this garbage, and I won’t _stand_ for it, Kara, I _won’t_.”

“What do you mean, they’re using you?”

“Voiceover.” Cat waves her hand impatiently. Kara flinches, grateful that the wine glass is almost empty. “They took some sound bite from a talk show I did about what it means to be a hero, about what makes women _strong_ , but apparently their answer is to take lessons from and have emotional affairs with intergalactic frat boys in outfits that make me miss your speedster friend’s take on spandex.”

Kara’s mouth twists, half disgust and half amusement, as she rests a placating hand on Cat’s knee. It instantly stops it’s up and down motion, going still and tense beneath her fingers. “That doesn’t sound good,” she allows, “but Cat, it’s not real. It’s not _me_.”

“Yes, well, it _is_ me!” Cat practically wails, and Rao, dramatic temper tantrums should not be adorable but Kara’s not had rational reactions to Cat in a long time. “And it’s _based_ on you - how are you not angry about this?” 

Kara shrugs, stroking a gentle thumb along the hem of Cat’s dress. “I can’t do anything about it. I can just try to be a good example in real life, and hope that people will realize that a television character created by people who don’t know anything about me doesn’t reflect who I am or what I stand for.” She smiles, squeezing Cat’s knee. “That’s what I have you for. _You_ help show the world who Supergirl really is.”

Cat sniffs, rolling her eyes almost reflexively as per usual when faced with sentimentality, but the tension in her shoulders softens and she seems to consider Kara’s words. “I really don’t understand how you’re so okay with this,” she repeats, with less heat this time. “You’ve worked so hard to establish yourself, and all the things you represent...”

“Like what?” Kara can’t help but ask, and this time Cat’s eye roll is deliberate and exaggerated.

“Oh, just hope, resilience, collaboration over isolation, the wonder of womanhood, the best of humanity…” She ticks the traits off dryly, almost bored, like the lists of assignments she rattles off at morning staff meetings, but there’s a twinkle in her eye and a smile tugging at her lips as Kara beams. Her chest can’t contain the warmth she feels at the words, and she’s sure it’s shining through her eyes, flushing her cheeks. 

Cat moves a little closer, her dress shifting with her, the thin skin of her knee soft under Kara’s hand and even softer as she daringly inches it higher. “Goodness, empowerment,” Cat continues a little breathlessly, eyes darting down to Kara’s lips and the sparkle in them turning darker, hungrier. She leans forward, farther than she needs to to delicately set her glass on the coffee table, and when she straightens she lifts her now-free hand to trace along the curve of Kara’s bicep. “ _Power_ , and strength…”

Kara nods almost automatically, head swimming at the feel of Cat’s breath on her lips. “See?” she asks, blushing a little and clearing her throat when she hears how husky she sounds. “Seems like the people who matter know me pretty well.”

“Ego,” Cat immediately adds to her list, but she seems decidedly unbothered as Kara proves her point and flexes under her hand.

“ _Definitely_ not distracted by intergalactic frat boys,” Kara gently mocks, raising an eyebrow to drive home just how ridiculous the idea is. Cat huffs out an annoyed breath, surging forward to smack Kara’s arm and kiss her at the same time.

Joy, disbelief, and incredulity at the idea of being anywhere but right here, _with_ anyone but someone who knows her and helps her to be the very best version of herself - it all bubbles up into a giddy, helpless laugh as her lips meet Cat’s. It leaves her shaky and breathless even as Cat steadies her the way she always does, and together, they forget anything but right here, right now - the only thing that matters.


End file.
